Gila Monster

The big excitement on our last afternoon in Tucson, Arizona was the first monsoon rain of the season and the large gila monster that emerged from the rocks beside the pool of our rental house. It was relatively still at first, looking like a strangely patterned stuffed toy. Then it moved. It leaned over to get a drink from the pool while the camera was retrieved. It posed for a picture and then sauntered off to its den.

We had been in the house for a week and enjoying the area around the pool without noticing the hole just under one of the poolside rocks. I’m glad we finally saw the gila monster and relieved that it did not come out unexpectedly while someone was standing right beside its burrow! I supposed it was good that the pool was nearby since the Wikipedia entry says that sometimes the only way to get them to release was they bite it to submerge them in water.